Ethics of Retouching

1. What ethical considerations must be made by someone using Photoshop to retouch a portrait photograph? 
     Photoshop is a very useful tool to enhancing a photo portrait, but it comes with a negative drawback. By changing the photo drastically, the person using Photoshop may reinforce a negative self-esteem in the subject. This is because they are saying the only way to look beautiful in their photo is to retouch it. Furthermore, it is as if they are saying that the person in their natural appearance is not good enough. Therefore, using Photoshop to point out and correct flaws is a sure way to make the subject feel more self-concious.

2. Give an example of a positive use of photo retouching and a negative use of photo retouching.
     A positive use of photo retouching could be in yearbook pictures, especially senior pictures. For example, say a boy with very bad skin got their yearbook picture retouched. Then, it would be published for everyone in the school to see, and classmates will look at that picture years from now to remember the student. For that boy, the retouching will boost his confidence and give him a picture he is not ashamed of. 
     A negative use of photo retouching is the heavy editing done in magazines and advertisements. They look so believable that girls may try to compare themselves to them. It can lower their self-esteem and self-confidence, in some cases even causing them to take drastic measures to change themselves. Yet, they are striving for something that is unachievable.

3. Has learning retouching processes caused you to look at advertisements, magazine images and other published photos of celebrities and models differently? In what ways?
    The retouching process certainly caused me to look at this images differently. When we retouched the image of the dancer, she originally was pretty but had several flaws. However, when we were done, she looked possibly good enough to be published in a magazine. This made me realize just how much editing a photographer must do in order to get any image published. Also, when I edited the picture of myself, I originally thought it was a decent picture. However when I looked at the edited version, it seemed unnatural to me even though my teeth were whiter, my skin was smoother, my freckles were gone, and the scar on my lip was erased. It was fake and not me, and I did not like it. I feel that most celebrities are born naturally beautiful, but the images we see are quite fake, and I know I do not have to try to compare myself to those unnatural photos.